Tan Xinpei

Tan Xinpei
Tan in a surviving still of Dingjun Mountain (1905)
Born	(1847-04-23)April 23, 1847 Wuchang, Wuhan, Hubei, China
Died	May 10, 1917(1917-05-10) (aged 70) Beijing, China
Occupation(s)	Peking opera artist, actor
Years active	1905
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	譚鑫培
Simplified Chinese	谭鑫培
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tán Xīnpéi

In this Chinese name, the family name is Tan.

Tan Xinpei (23 April 1847 – 10 May 1917) was a Chinese Peking opera artist. Tan Xinpei played in many sheng roles. Tan Xinpei was thought to be the most important Peking opera performer in his generation. He was also the only actor in China's first movie. This movie was Dingjun Mountain (1905).

Over 40 of Tan Xinpei's family members were Peking opera performers. His grandson Tan Fuying was a famous opera performer.

There are audio recordings of Tan Xinpei that still exist.

"Thirteen Masters of the Tongzhi and Guangxu Reigns" (同光十三絕), a late Qing dynasty painting by Shen Rongpu (沈容圃). Tan Xinpei is 2nd from right, dressed in the role of Huang Tianba.

Movies

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1905	Dingjun Mountain	Opera Lord	first Chinese film
	Chang ban po

References

• Mackerras, Colin (Spring 1994). "Peking Opera before the Twentieth Century". Comparative Drama. 28 (1): 19–42. doi:10.1353/cdr.1994.0001. JSTOR 41153679.
• Xu Chengbei (2012). Peking Opera. Translated by Chen Gengtao. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-18821-0.
• Mackerras, Colin (1997). Peking Opera. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-587729-2.

Other websites

• Tan Xinpei on IMDb